Cleo Byrd

Cleo Carver Byrd of Chesterfield, VA earned his wings on September 3, 2026, at 12:43am. Cleo was born on December 4, 1943, to the late McClain and Edna Mae Byrd as the youngest of their two sons in Florence County, South Carolina.

He graduated from Spaulding High School in Lamar, South Carolina in 1961. After which time, he attended Friendship College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and later attended Elizabeth City State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1966. While attending ECSU, he met and fell in love with Shirley Jefferson. They married in 1967 and relocated to Paterson, NJ. To their union, one child was born, Jacinda Denise Byrd.

In New Jersey, he began a career as a junior chemist at Chemway, Wayne, NJ. In 1973, he began teaching at Eastside High School, Paterson, NJ and taught there for 27 years. In addition to serving as a social studies teacher, he also held roles as Class Advisor and School Treasurer. His students all agreed that “Mr. Byrd was tough, but fair.” He taught his students meaningful lessons about what life could hold for them after high school, lessons that went beyond textbooks and the classroom.

Never afraid of hard work, he used his skills as a jack of all trades to become an entrepreneur. After school he and another teacher, Ike Townes, acted as handymen – repairing homes, tiling floors, remodeling bathrooms, painting and doing home repairs of all kinds. He later used those skills to purchase and maintain multiple rental properties throughout Paterson. In 2003, Cleo and Shirley moved to Chesterfield where they built their dream home but kept traveling back and forth to New Jersey to maintain their properties and enjoy spending time with their long-time friends. They continued friendships with Nettie and Lindy Curry and Bernice and Calvin Martin, traveling, gaming, and enjoying a good meal together. They also spent time traveling to Ohio to visit Wilson and Lillie Bell Williams. Cleo joined First Baptist Church Centralia in 2003 and lived by the mantra that God had been good to him and he thanked God daily for all the blessings he had received.

Cleo enjoyed life. He couldn’t resist a good laugh and relished being able to see the positive side of things. He loved always being well-dressed, and enjoyed buying new cars, trucks, vans, an RV or two, or anything with four wheels. His favorite hobbies included fishing, listening to music, and creating projects for himself (that might include fixing or tearing something apart). He treasured friendship and loved his family and the extended family created from relationships he developed in New Jersey. Most would agree that, above all else, he valued the small family that he and Shirley created. His priority was to always make sure that the lives of his wife and daughter, and later his granddaughter, were better because of him. He got the son he hadn’t planned on when Jacinda married his son-in law, Derrick Smith. Jacinda was the light of his life; that is until his granddaughter, Jaida entered the scene.

Although Cleo and Shirley only had one daughter, there were unique relationships with some of the young women that entered into their lives that made them Cleo’s special girls: Tiara Brown, Sharon Byrd (who preceded him in death), Linda Davis, Monica Lane, Tanya McMichael, Ashley Mills, LaTonya Moore, Trina Phillips, Maria Walker, and Archyne Woodard.

He leaves to cherish his memory: his devoted wife of 59 years – Shirley Byrd; daughter – Dr. Jacinda Byrd-Smith (Derrick) of Stone Mountain, GA ; one granddaughter – Jaida Smith of Stone Mountain, GA; one brother – Raymond Byrd of Lamar, SC; one sister – Annette Johnson of Lamar, SC; sister-in-law – Nancy Phillips (John); nieces – Linda Byrd Davis (Bobby), LaTonya Moore (James), Mariah Crawford (Jay), Sarah Jefferson, Mikayla Harris, Mica Harris and Mikay Harris; nephews – Michael Harris, Anthony Craft, and Rico Naylor; and a host of cousins, other family members, friends, and students.
Friends that became family include James and Lena Mills, Maurice Pickett, Otis Coe, Ike Townes, David Humphrey, Nettie Curry, Bernice Martin, Lillie Bell Williams, Henry Lee and Barbara Ann Jones, William Rogers Trent, and Titania Williams.

Simply put, Cleo never met a stranger and made friends easily with his warm smile and good nature. Cleo had a mind that amazed most people because if he stared at something long enough, he would figure out how to reconfigure it, fix it, or make it work. He was a man of few words but would share his opinion with you whether you were ready to hear it or not. He demonstrated, by example, how a man could simultaneously be gentle and firm. He will be missed for his laughter and easy-going personality.

Whether you knew him as Daddy, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Bo, Uncle Cleo, Cle, Byrd, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Cleo, or just Cleo – his imprint on the lives he touched has left a forever mark.